I own a very small independent bookstore.

And when I say small, I mean when two people browse the same section at once, they’re bound to form a relationship.

From the git-go, we knew this tiny space wouldn’t accommodate books organized the usual way. You know how it’s supposed to work: romance here, horror over there, literary fiction quietly judging everyone from the corner.

So, we did something unconventional. We created two categories for fiction:

Love & Light
Drama & Darkness

That’s it. That’s how we group the titles in our fiction department.

Romance? Love & Light.
Historical fiction? Also Love & Light.
An unhinged psychological thriller? Straight to Drama & Darkness.
Dragons? Probably Drama & Darkness but what if they’re in love?

We chose this organization strategy out of necessity, and it’s brought surprising advantages.

First, categorizing books into just two groups is a good challenge for me and my bookselling team. We get to think creatively and strategically about where to place each book. Occasionally, we debate about what sits where. Listening to one another’s perspectives has made us a stronger team.

Second—and more important—our guests love this alternative arrangement of the books.

They wander. They linger. They smile. They ask questions. They discover books they wouldn’t have otherwise.

And they remember my quirky little bookstore.

As it happens, how you group things influences how people see things. And this doesn’t just apply to bookstores.

What if the way you’re grouping things at work is too predictable?

Grouping is a form of storytelling.

At work, we group all kinds of things:

We segment audiences.
We categorize products.
We organize teams.

Most of the time, we inherit these groupings instead of questioning them.

Age. Location. Job title. Product line. Department. These categories are logical but boring. And they limit your imagination. The labels are so “right,” nobody looks or thinks twice.

What a missed opportunity! Because the moment you group something, you’re telling a story about how it belongs.

What happens if you tell a different story?

1. Group your audience like humans, not data points.

“Women, 25 to 34, Midwest.” That’s a demographic, not a person.

What if you grouped your audience by mindset instead?

• People who are seeking clarity
• People who are quietly overwhelmed but won’t say it out loud
• People who are ready for something bold

Now your messaging can shift. You’re no longer speaking at a segment—you’re speaking into a moment of human emotion.

2. Group your products by experience, not category.

Most product groupings answer the question: What is this? But that’s not what potential buyers ask. They want to know: What will this do for me?

Take a step back and reframe. Instead of:

• Basic | Pro | Enterprise

Try:

• Get started quickly
• Build something meaningful
• Scale without hassle

Or mash your products up in unexpected ways:

• For when you’re stuck
• For when you need a win
• For when you’re reinventing yourself

Akin to my bookstore’s Love & Light and Drama & Darkness, you can create an entry point based on feeling, not function—paving the way for richer dialogue and more meaningful interactions with customers.

3. Group people for creative collaboration, not comfort.

Most teams are grouped for efficiency. Marketing sits with marketing. Finance with finance. Product with product.

And that can be great … until you need fresh ideas.

Putting a bunch of similar thinkers together is a fantastic way to get more of the same thinking.

So, what if you re-grouped colleagues—even temporarily—around:

• A shared challenge instead of a shared function?
• A customer experience instead of a department?
• A bold goal instead of a reporting structure?

You might get friction. And that’s good, because friction can ignite the spark of a new idea.

Take the “wrong way” challenge.

To experiment with this idea, start small. Pick one area of your work and ask:

What would be the “wrong” way to group my audience/products/team?

Then explore it anyway. Never mind the wrongness.

• Combine two categories that “don’t belong.”
• Rename a segment using emotion instead of data.
• Provoke collaboration between people who rarely work together.

I’m not suggesting you overhaul your existing structure once and for all. Just challenge the default. Pick one thing this month—just one—and re-group it in a way that makes your business-as-usual self a little uncomfortable.

Re-grouping isn’t about organization, but discovery.

When someone walks into Anthology for Books and sees Love & Light and Drama & Darkness, they stop. They get curious. They look longer and at more possibilities than they planned to. As a result, they discover books that surprise them.

Surprise is powerful. It slows us down, opens us up, and helps us see things we would have otherwise missed.

Your work deserves such moments.

So go ahead and re-group. And get ready to be surprised by what you and your team will discover.